A
few swifties down at Jamo's and then off on the tour bus,
with coldies on board. Boys got on at Regent's and immediately
contributed to the boisterous atmosphere by going asleep.
Some small details indicating lack of preparation by Panthers
included general fitness levels and the fact that the rockin'sounds
for the trip were entirely from Tyler's 'phone with the earphone
unplugged.

At
Suvarnabhumi, Holty, Jimbo and Pete Wiki turned up amazingly
as arranged, Panthers checked in amazingly as arranged and
headed for an arranged beer at departure gate, amazingly.

200B
each for a few warm San Migs, a Burger King hat for Bryan
and off we went.

Uneventful
trip into CMX. Small complication in Taxi queue but Panthers
forwards, having been barged out of line by two old ladies
and a pregnant bird finally bullied their way past an unaccompanied
toddler and 3 cars got us to a hotel whose name escapes me
as much now as it did when the cab driver asked.

Check
in to five four three two star digs and then down to "the
Pub" for a night cap as it was half eleven. The Pub wouldn't
let us in so across the road to the Thai restaurant night
clubby thing for more than one night cap and a night cap at
every stall and window back to digs, including multiple U
turns by pathfinder Dessie to catch some nightcaps that weren't
on the way.

Saturday
dawned. Tournament committee laid on Song Thaew's to ground
- just aswell - we wouldn't have found it in a fit. Mass confusion
as confirmed teams let organisers down with failure to show.
Delays allowed Tim Jones to join us direct from Manila. Don't
know why he went to Manila, email clearly said Chiang Mai.
Some draw rejigs and the mighty Panther's took the field against
tournament favourites Chiang Mai Suas. Fourteen minutes later
the Panthers left the field following a game against tournament
favourites Chiang Mai Suas. 'Nuff said. Similar games followed
against Thonburi Uni and the Peoples Republic of China (Prince
Royal College) and the Panther's concluded Saturday's play
without a point. This despite some intricate moves and exciting
play. Disregard last sentence after "despite".

Back
to hotel for 17:30 meet by pool. No-one there. Bangers arrived
at 18:00 dressed as superheroes. Many recognizable characters,
but Sexy Nurse Man and Pumpkin Man were pushing it. Panthers
assembled 18:30ish in fetching blue from MJSports and headed
off to the city lights. First off UN Irish pub for grub, then
down town to try to find Harry Potter and the boys who remained
several bars ahead of us for the evening. Back to UN for the
end of the English game. England seemed to have had a pretty
similar Saturday to the Panthers except for a consolation
try at the end that we didn't manage. 40 winks for Chairman
Jim and onwards. The excellent Reggae Bar saw the Panthers
most coherent and coordinated moves thus far with some well
structured forays to the bar and some less successful, but
equally valiant efforts on the dance-floor. One last attempt
to get Holty home failed and as the author and Damo headed
for the hotel he sallied forth yet again with the coach to
complete his final preparations for Sunday.

Sunday
morning saw the Panthers take on the Russian National side
populated by cosmonauts constructed of titanium. Once the
Panthers woke up and realized that we were two tries down,
the best spell of the weekend to date ensued and we had a
much better go of not scoring than our three previous games
of not scoring. A more enjoyable game against the Bangers
followed where our first try came courtesy of some little
bloke we'd pinched from the sideline. Last game against the
BC Goosers led to a try from Richard, and another loss making
us a very close 8th (out of 8).

An
entertaining final saw the Russkies defeat the Suas.

Some
beers pitchside, a quick dash to the hotel and then back to
the Pub for the court session. Some heinous crimes were dealt
with with a terrible justice by Judge Howard. MJP decided
that he was an orator of the class of Martin Luther King.
His inspirational speechmaking was finally quieted only by
industrial doses of Sambuca prescribed by the court. He soon
got very tired and went home for a rest.

The
monotony of the Song Thaew trip back down to the action was
briefly alleviated by TJ's swan dive off the back of it. A
quick review by the ER's resident expert determined that his
unconsciousness and bubble blowing had nothing to do with
head trauma, and the boys got him home, but not until after
the curry. A few more quiet beers in the tranquil setting
of a Chiang Mai night and then all over for another year.

Special
mention for youngest member Langer Latham who survived admirably,
displaying a maturity beyond his years, particularly in his
beer management.

Thanks
to all who pitched up. For the record, in no particular order.

Jim
the Enforcer Howard
Dessie Its early yet or my watch is broken Halls
Mickey Martin Luther King Price
Damo Voltaren McCoy
Richard I'm not coming home 'cause I've sold everything Holt
Pete the Hamstring Hamilton
James I'm not really Harry Potter
Richard I've clearly done this before in a different life
Latham
Tyler Boarding Pass Hoinkiss
Bryan No I can't speak Thai De Leon
Damon I'm not letting the captain sign me out again Adaeng
Iyobo
Tim Him not know Everything Jones
Andy Wish I was at Molyneux and not with these clowns Byard